The Accidental Principal
What doesn't get taught at ed schools?
What doesn’t get taught at ed schools?
Poor Schools or Poor Kids?
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
The Turnaround Fallacy
Stop trying to fix failing schools. Close them and start fresh.
Stop trying to fix failing schools. Close them and start fresh.
D.C.’s Braveheart
Can Michelle Rhee wrest control of the D.C. school system from decades of failure?
Can Michelle Rhee wrest control of the D.C. school system from decades of failure?
Fraud in the Lunchroom?
Federal school-lunch program may not be a reliable measure of poverty
Federal school-lunch program may not be a reliable measure of poverty
Accountability Overboard
Massachusetts poised to toss out the nation's most successful reforms
Massachusetts poised to toss out the nation’s most successful reforms
New Ed Next Podcast: Voters Choose Neighborhood Schools over Socioeconomic Diversity
Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week about Wake County, North Carolina, where voters earlier this month elected new school board members who have pledged to undo the county’s controversial policy of assigning students to schools based on income (to achieve diversity). Click here to get to the podcast.
Backlash Against Teacher Firings in D.C. Tests Rhee’s Political Strength
It’s hard to tell whether Washington D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee courts controversy or is merely dogged by it. Either way, Rhee once again finds herself in the thick of it, just as her school-improvement efforts are starting to take hold and Washington had begun to exhale over her stick-it-in-your-eye style.
Will Michelle Rhee Triumph?
Podcast: Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week (October 14) about education politics in Washington, D.C., where Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee recently fired 229 teachers.
Education Next Profiles D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee
Can Michelle Rhee Wrest Control of the D.C. School System from Decades of Failure?
Inside Look at School Boards
Readers who have enjoyed Peter Meyer’s Ed Next blog entries about serving on his local school board (here, here, and here) should check out Peter’s Commentary in this week’s Ed Week: For Better Schools and for Civic Life, Boards Must Assert Power.
The List
The other day I delivered to my school board president, via email, a list. “This is what I found in my ‘followup’ folder for just the last month!” I wrote. “Obviously, we can’t get it all in at a single meeting, but can we chip away at it?”
School Board as Cheerleader, Leader, and Micromanager
I recently got a wake-up call from a fellow school board member, upset about a comment I made to a reporter that turned up in a page-one story that morning. Was it a mistake? And should I have talked about it? To the press?
No Country for Strong Men
California unions tame the Terminator
California unions tame the Terminator
Teacher Cooperatives
What happens when teachers run the school?
What happens when teachers run the school?
Law and Disorder in the Classroom
Emphasis on student rights continues in classrooms even when the Court begins to think otherwise
Emphasis on student rights continues in classrooms even when the Court begins to think otherwise
Trench Warfare on the Board of Ed
I was the infamous “rogue” board member, the person that school board associations give seminars about.
What Is Good for General Motors
For years, our public schools have paid as little attention to personnel costs as General Motors has.
For years, our public schools have paid as little attention to personnel costs as General Motors has.
Opinion Leaders or Laggards?
Newspaper editorialists support charter schools, split on NCLB
Newspaper editorialists support charter schools, split on NCLB
The Right Republican Strategy
“By…[selecting] the youths of genius from among the classes of the poor, we hope to avail the State of those talents which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as the rich, but which perish without use if not sought for and cultivated.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1782 “We need to challenge the soft bigotry of [...]
The Democratic Take
The 2008 presidential election stands as a “change” election. The public’s anxiety over the challenges globalization poses to the future of the American Dream is driving a desire for the country to change direction. The American people understand that what will give the nation a competitive advantage in a global marketplace are the skills, creativity, [...]
Help Wanted
Choice, accountability, and transparency will mean little without a new generation of school-based leaders to light the way
Choice, accountability, and transparency will mean little without a new generation of school-based leaders to light the way
With Strings Attached
Vouchers improve public schools in Florida
Vouchers improve public schools in Florida
